jeremy jackson

Previously: S Carvin Johnson, S Ray Vinopal, S Marvin Robinson, CB Courtney Avery, CB Terrence Talbott, CB Cullen Christian, CB Demar Dorsey, LB Jake Ryan, LB Davion Rogers, LB Josh Furman, DE Jordan Paskorz, DE Jibreel Black, DE Kenny Wilkins, DT Terry Talbott, DT Richard Ash, C Christian Pace, WR Drew Dileo, and WR Jerald Robinson, and WR DJ Williamson.

Of all the fine players Fred Jackson has coached in his tenure, he's the most excited about his son, Jeremy, who shoots lasers out of his eyes and reminds him of a Braylon Edwards, except fast and with giant hands made of glue. And when Jackson committed to Michigan months before the previous class even signed it seemed like this was a widely-held opinion. Every article about it mentioned hot-damn offers:

When high school senior Jeremy Jackson looks through the family mail, he commonly sees what every high school student athlete dreams of — full ride scholarships to the colleges of his choice.

Jackson cites offers from four of the top 10 football college in the land, including Florida, Louisiana State and Texas.

But wait, there's more!

Michigan wasn't the only major program to offer Jackson a scholarship. Florida, Texas, Nebraska, Iowa and North Carolina all came calling, too, and Jeremy seriously considered signing with LSU.

Order now and we'll throw in a 5'8" tailback (just pay shipping and handling):

In addition to Michigan, Jackson had scholarship offers from Texas, Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska and North Carolina.

ESPN confirms as well. There are a bunch of Scout articles with those claims that also add Louisville and Stanford to the docket. Tennessee even came in months after his commitment with an offer. Texas was on him "hardest." As Christopher Walken might say about hot dogs: wow.

HOWEVA: not to suggest that a member of the Jackson family might be given to exaggeration, but given the way the Jeremy Jackson story played out it's more likely that the offer-type substances listed above were "verbal" offers that, like a Les Miles letter of intent, evaporate when someone attempts to use them. When it came time to rank the kids, Jackson's offers from the best schools in the country amounted to a generic three star rating from the drop. Even Ricardo Miller, about whom more in the near future, started off with a ranking slightly proportional to the hype. Jackson checked in at Anonymous Three Star and stayed there for the duration. Rankings systems aren't infallible but when a player actually has the offers Jackson claims he did six months before the previous class signs he at least starts off a four-star.

Jackson didn't, and even ESPN—by far the most enthusiastic service in re: his talents—put out an evaluation that uses the word "lumbering" in the first sentence($):

Jackson is a big, lumbering wide receiver prospect with great size and a thick build. He is strong and knows how to use his size. He has a nice combination of size and athleticism. Possesses long arms and a wide catching radius. Comes off the ball hard and will push defensive backs off him. Looks a bit like an H-back type. He is versatile and can be effective both inside and outside. He has good hands, plucks on the run and uses his body very well to shield defenders from the ball. If it's reachable, he will make the effort and display excellent focus.

The rest of it is more of the same: "lacks great burst," "may struggle to create separation," "mismatch in the red zone," "reliable," "excels in a crowd," etc. He gets a lot of Eckstein adjectives; the evaluation screams "son of coach"; in no way does it make it seem likely that Florida and Texas offered a kid in Michigan before his junior year is over.

That book on Jackson is consistent. The Rivals evaluation:

STRENGTHS: Jackson is a big target. He may actually be taller than his 6-3 listing in his profile. He has really soft hands. He catches the ball away from his body well, and makes it look easy. He is a better-than-average route runner as well. He will be a very reliable receiver at Michigan, and overall, was impressive on Friday.
WEAKNESSES: Jackson lacks top-end speed. It shows most in his inability to separate himself from defenders on deep routes. However, he does have pretty good body control and good hands. With some added strength, he will be able to make catches with defenders on his hip. - G.L.

Scout's version:

Is a big bodied kid who uses his body well to out-position defenders. Has good ball skills and timing and is able to go up over the top of defensive backs to make tough catches. Has fantastic hands and makes grabs in traffic. Lacks top end speed and ability to stretch the field but should be a reliable possession receiver and red zone target.

"Hands," "size," and "red zone weapon" are his assets; "speed" and "downfield threat" the negatives. Everybody hold hands and sing in harmony: the scouting report on Jeremy Jackson is unanimous. Even Jeremy Jackson agrees when talking about things to improve on:

They haven’t talked about speed, but my Dad just told me to keep working hard every day. I ran a 4.58 at camp, and I’d like to get that down to a 4.4 or 4.5. I want to improve my weight, and I can’t really improve my height at all, so I’ll focus on those. I’m assuming they want me to gain weight, they haven’t mentioned it. Rich Rodriguez isn’t influencing me on my speed either; it’s just a goal of mine. My route running and catching ability are my strengths right now, which helps.

His coach is also on board:

“He is big and strong. He uses his body very well when playing against a (defensive back). He cuts very quickly and has great feet and hands,” Gildersleeve said.

“He is a good teammate. He does his job and works very hard,” Gildersleeve said. “The players on the team look for him to make big plays for us.”

Gildersleeve liked the "big and strong" part so well that he moved Jackson to tight end as he installed a veer offense; despite this he managed to call the kid's number enough for him to lead the county with 47 receptions (and 691 yards), an increase on his 42 catches (and 620 yards) as a junior. This came despite games in which he was targeted five times and had an opportunity to make a catch once.

Because his dad coached at Michigan his recruitment was extraordinarily brief and obvious save for the offers listed above, which we just covered. At Michigan he'll be a wide receiver unless he packs on a ton of weight and becomes a slight, but potentially dangerous, tight end. A side note on his potential usefulness: as a former high school TE and a gritty Gritstein of a player with excellent size and long arms, his ability to block on the edge could be a major asset in the ground/screen game.

Etc.: Interview with Jackson and Nick Hill. An interview with Maize Nation. Made one catch for 38 yards in that weird Hawaii All Star game. His coach destroys the word tangible:

"He brings a lot to a team," Huron coach Joel Przygodski said. "The most tangible aspect of his game can't be seen on film - he is so smart on the field. He's a very, very difficult player to game plan for. We just shake our heads at some of the things that young man has done."

Father son stuff gets weird:

When Jeremy emerged as one of Michigan’s top recruiting targets for 2010, Fred drew the role of lead recruiter. He wrote Jeremy a letter or two each week, as he did all of his prospects, explaining how much he wanted him and what Michigan had to offer. And he made regular trips to see Jeremy at Huron High School.

Other guy named Jeremy Jackson: David Hasselhoff's son on Baywatch, who put out a sex tape in 2008 and is now endorsing a product that prevents premature ejaculation, but only in Australia. AMBIGUOUS CLAUSE WOOT.

Why Greg Mathews or Tyrece Butler? Butler is probably the closer comparison since he was also around 6'4" and sticks in my memory as the Michigan WR most likely to get tagged with "lumbering," Listed at 6'3", 211, he was not a hyped recruit and ended up a bit player until his senior year, when he caught 21 passes as the #3 receiver. (Did he get injured or something? All of his passes were made in the first eight games; he registered nothing in the last five.)

Mathews, meanwhile, was considerably more hyped as a recruit—he squeaked into the tail end of the Rivals 100 on their last revamp his recruiting year—but turned out to be overrated because he couldn't really get separation from defensive backs. He did have some spectacular hands, though, and would have been a reliable underneath target if he'd had a non-freshman quarterback either of his upperclass years.

Guru Reliability: High. Yes, despite the spread between some on the rankings, when they all say the exact same things about a player there's no reason to expect anything different than the scouting reports.
General Excitement Level: The opposite kind of moderate that dropped on DJ Williamson. Williamson could be anything from Braylon/Mario III to Doug Dutch II; it seems obvious that Jackson will be a solid, unspectacular contributor who would ideally be the #2/#3 receiver on the team when he is an upperclassman.
Projection: Enrolled early and has a shot at playing time outside with the scant experience past the starters, but still likely to redshirt since it seems like Miller and Robinson are getting more early buzz. Probably won't see the field much until Stonum and Hemingway go; redshirt sophomore year is his first shot at playing time.

Michigan just let in all manner of heathens to observe a couple practices, ping various coaches for information, and take in a Saturday scrimmage; naturally, this has created a ton of internet chatter. Also naturally, large portions of it conflict with other portions of it. There's a faction of super insiders on Rivals declaring Denard Robinson to be a complete disaster and one focused here proclaiming him to be Pat White—except fast! Tate Forcier is either looking like a "walk-on" or the obvious starter, and Devin Gardner is either a total n00b or Vince Young—except fast!

So… yeah. I don't know. Here's my contribution to the melee. First, a non-crippling version of the latest Inside Michigan Football featuring all quarterbacks doing something awesome:

Whenever I hear one of the freshmen speak I get annoyed at all the Dorsey stuff. Yeah, Michigan is totally turning into Jimmy Johnson's Miami.

Anyway, in addition to the posters who got bumped to the front page over the weekend, MGoBlog had a couple of sources who took in the activity late last week. Observations gleaned:

Terminology, or: The Quick And The Dead

One of the toughest things to do as a guy who tries to figure out football and communicate it as a layman is figure out what to call something. Every time I decide to call something X, well meaning folk tell me it should be Y or Z. I tend to apologetically ignore them just so things are relatively clear for readers.

However, if the coaches are all calling something one thing and it's not counter-intuitive I'll go with it. So:

• Michigan is calling the dual SS in the 3-3-5 "spur" (strongside) and "bandit" (weakside). Some 3-3-5 teams make no distinction between these guys, but it appears that Michigan will flip these guys strong and weak. This leaves the bandit as the guy who will be tested in the occasional deep half, about which more later.
• The coaches were actually calling the deep safety "strong" for a while but they've reverted to calling him "free." There are good football-related reasons for that weird nomenclature but since they're gone, whatever. I'll return to calling Cam Gordon and other guys who line up there free safeties.
• The north-south MINOR RAGE run that Michigan's used to good effect the past couple years is something I've been calling "veer," which has been the nomenclature that's drawn the most protests. Michigan calls this their "belly" series.

Spinner: dead. Quick: dead. With this jargon we will ascend to the pillars of knowledge.

Denard Is Not Specious, Unless He Is

My initial reaction to the Denard Robinson hype was the same as Doctor Saturday, who has lumped Tate-Denard-Devin into a list of "specious spring quarterback controversies," but both observers gave tentative, caveat-laden nods to Robinson as the starting quarterback. The difference between last year and this year is vast. That falls just short of incredible since Robinson arrived without any ability to even run the zone read. Many of his plays were Incredibly Surprising Quarterback Zone Stretches run from an empty backfield. Robinson's high school coaching amounted to nil, so it's obvious that he would have a bigger leap forward than Forcier and his years of intensive training.

Robinson is still light years away from Forcier as a passer—his ability to "see and understand the field remains limited"—but in the open field he is ludicrous and now that he's gotten the hang of the zone read he gets in that space frequently. Craig Roh on Robinson:

"I hate Denard on the football field," Roh said. "I love him outside of football, but on the football field, he's just such a nuisance. The quarterbacks here are too fast, and Denard, I just can't catch him. It's ridiculous."

Observer A, a defensively oriented guy, said "as a coordinator you watch him come around the corner on the naked boot and you say uh-oh." Another high school coach told observer B that Denard "runs into traffic just to make defenders look silly." Robinson's athleticism will force defenses to overplay that threat and open up other opportunities.

Tate Forcier remains Tate. One of Michigan's coaches praised Tate's "great strides" in his understanding of the playbook, but what you see is what you get with Forcier: accurate on the run, good scrambler, shortish, meh arm strength. Meanwhile, the undercurrent of coaching discontent with his dedication as a freshman has added another pebble:

"Maybe some of the things that happened early in the season happened a little easier for him," Rodriguez said. "It kind of felt right to him. At the end of the year, he played more like a true freshman at times. And he got banged up a little bit and his concentration wasn't as sharp.

"As coaches, it's our job to make sure he maintains that focus."

The most worrisome thing I hear about Forcier is actually a positive thing related about Gardner. Gardner sets in the pocket and has less of a tendency to start running around than either of the other two quarterbacks, which allows him to go deep more regularly. The offense is a lot of broken plays with both of the short guys. While that's obvious with Robinson, I was hoping Forcier would get more comfortable throwing in the pocket.

Despite that, it will be all but impossible to pull Forcier in favor of Robinson full time when their skill sets are so divergent; a platoon beckons.

As for Devin Gardner, raves about his "incredible feel for the game" from QB coach Rod Smith were relayed via both observers. Other spring hype: "huge," "covers ground without seeming to move" like Vince Young and Terrelle Pryor, and… wait for it… "well ahead of both at this stage." Gardner is a "gym rat" who will happily spend all day watching film. However, he's "nowhere near" having a grasp of the offense and his throwing is erratic. When he's good, he can make deep throws with touch unlike either of the other two, but his overall accuracy lags because of the mechanical issues. His delivery isn't consistent yet. This will not be an enormous surprise to anyone who saw the difference between Camp Devin and Degraded Devin over the course of this high school football season.

This position remains a mess that will not be resolved until UConn, and frankly I'd be surprised to see a single game this year where Michigan goes exclusively with one quarterback. With two polar opposites at the spot, the nominal starter may depend on the relative strength of the opposing defense.

That's just this year. The vibe I got was that Gardner is the future of the position. Maybe not this year, but all bets are off in 2011. The position was described as "loaded," albeit young.

Running Back Battle

Zero clarity here as well. As mentioned earlier, Stephen Hopkins was impressive to Observer B; A was pretty noncommital about the tailbacks. Mike Cox has slipped for whatever reason. Observer B on Hopkins:

The guy is just a freaking monster and he breaks tackles. Now, I can’t say he can block, or knows the offense or can catch the ball. Plus, he fumbled twice (once he was hit at the handoff, on the other instance it might have been the QB’s issue). But man is he a tough tackle on the belly if he can get (even) a yard of momentum.

Shaw and Toussaint seemed like better runners than Cox, as well. This is another spot that will lack clarity until deep into fall unless Vincent Smith (who is jogging but limping badly) comes back fully healthy and establishes himself as the guy.

At fullback, Mark Moundros is playing mostly at linebacker, leaving McColgan the starting FB. He seems okay. Made a couple catches, made a couple blocks. Fullback isn't a huge priority.

Wide Receivers

Still hard to tell much of anything with two of the top three guys on the outside missing and Michigan focusing on the short stuff, but the freshman making the most of his spring is Jerald Robinson, who is "rangy" and "knows how to get his body in position." That's similar to assessments coming out of his strong summer camp performance.

Jeremy Jackson is also on par with expectations: smart, good routes, great hands, approximately as fast as a tight end. Could this be the guy who actually warrants the incessant Jason Avant comparisons I make? Miller didn't impress in the brief window provided.

Meanwhile, the guys in the slot are reputed to be extremely slippery. Terrance Robinson and Jeremy Gallon are described as "better than a pretty good Big Ten player" in Odoms as long as they're catching the ball. This is not assured: Robinson's hands were the main reason he didn't see the field last year and Observer B praised Odoms's hands while complaining about too many drops in the slot. Coaches were talking up Robinson as a potential contributor, FWIW.

Offensive Line

Offensive line being an esoteric position, I don't have much other than the general positivity even absent David Molk. Taylor Lewan could use another 15 pounds but is still holding down left tackle. Perry Dorrestein is nicked up, which may explain the move. More than likely this is an opportunity Lewan won't pass up and Dorrestein is going to have to battle for the right tackle spot. Insert now-default Jake Long comparisons here. Lewan's not likely to be the #1 pick in the NF L draft but his career trajectory is zipping along at the most optimistic level possible.

The most encouraging thing on the line is the depth. Even with Washington and Dorrestein nicked up there's almost a solid two-deep of players who Michigan could throw on the field without panic:

1. Lewan/Schilling/Khoury/Omameh/Huyge
2. Barnum/Ferrara/Mealer/?/Schofield

Getting Molk back will give Michigan a buffer of three or four competent backup offensive linemen.

Miscellaneous

Remember last year's complaint about Michigan potentially tipping their run plays based on the position of the quarterback? This was the setup position on a zone stretch…

…and this was Michigan's belly (which this blog called "veer") series:

From the sideline shot it's pretty obvious what's going on here. QB in front of RB: north-south. QB behind RB: east-west. I'm not entirely sure a defense is going to be aware enough to make an adjustment based on this—it's a lot easier to tell when you're way far away on a sideline—but it can't help.

The coaches apparently have the same concern. They've moved away from this paradigm in favor of something they believe will disguise their intent better. What it is I don't know. It sounds like at the very least the QB is going to move late, like a split second before the snap, if not after. This strikes me as something that Debord would never do.

(FWIW: They did try to mix it up some after practicing for Illinois' zone read veer—which I think is, like, really a veer until someone corrects me on it in the next 60 seconds—but that wasn't successful and was abandoned. I wouldn't write it off entirely, FWIW. It's possible a newly capable Denard Robinson makes that crazy effective.)

Defense tomorrow.

Boards of note:

• 2010 Michigan football Recruiting Board.
• 2011 Michigan Football Recruiting Board.

Trench Warfare

Lots of changes on the defensive tackle recruiting front in the past couple days.

First things first, MI DT Johnathon Hankins picked Ohio State yesterday over the Wolverines. Allow me to editorialize for a moment here: This blog has a tag called "basketball recruiting is dirty like dirt in a dirt sandwich," but if half of the rumors about the Southeastern coaching staff's handling of Hankins's recruitment are true, we may need to expand that tag to football as well. Genuinely Sarcastic provides some angry detail.

FL DT Todd Chandler seems to be looking primarily at Louisville as an option outside of USF (where he is committed). Michigan might become a stronger option if his teammate, FL OL Torrian Wilson, visits Ann Arbor, but this one appears to be on the back-burner for now. Chandler's top schools have gone from the likes of Miami, Michigan, and Florida to Memphis, Louisville, and FIU, so he may have some issues—grades?—that are causing bigger schools to back off.

Wilson, by the way, is down to USF, Michigan, and Tennessee. Michigan could really use another offensive lineman in the class.

Cincinnati high school sports reporter Mike Dyer reports that Michigan visited OH DT/DE Jibreel Black both in-home and in-school on Monday. Black, who has been committed to Cincinnati, but is reconsidering after the Brian Kelly departure, will also visit Michigan sometime this month, probably the weekend of the 22nd. According to Dyer's full article, the Wolverines have replaced Louisville on his list.

Michigan has a couple defensive ends and a couple three-tech defensive tackles so all they need is a nose; if they pick up Black it's because they really like him.

All-Star Updates

More on his actual game performance in a delayed Friday Night Lights post next week, but MI QB Devin Gardner participated in the Under Armour All-American Bowl on Saturday. He impressed in practice:

"(Devin Gardner) really impressed me a lot," [Scout Florida expert Geoff] Vogt added. "He was bigger than I expected him to be. His arm was everything that people made it out to be. He was accurate... He clearly, in my opinion, is the top quarterback on that team... He'd be the No. 1 quarterback in Florida straight out this year and that's really saying something. I think he has a really bright future at Michigan."

Of course, being the clear #1 QB on the team got him by far the fewest snaps out of the 3 QBs, with Nick Montana and Phillip Sims getting more (the order was determined randomly, FWIW). That Webb article also says that Michigan is pursuing Tennessee commit LB Michael Taylor. I've added him to the board. Taylor remains a soft commit to the Vols.

FL CB Tony Grimes participated in last weekend's Offense-Defense Bowl, and MGoReader J. Lichty reports that opposing offenses mostly stayed away from him. He played both corner and safety. MGoBlog's own TomVH talked to Grimes last week, and he reiterated what we've been hearing for some time on both Grimes and his teammate, FL DE Clarence Murphy:

TOM: Are you and Clarence still planning on going to the same school?

TONY: As far as this point, yes that's the plan.

TOM: Is Michigan still on top for you?

TONY: Yes.

The two still both favor Michigan, and plan to announce on Signing Day. Tony also said that he didn't know there was a dead period between college coaches and recruits, and was wondering why Michigan wasn't contacting him as much. Sounds like other schools haven't quite been following the rules. THE NCAA WILL BE ALL OVER THIS!

This upcoming weekend is a little more notable for Michigan fans: Commits WI P Will Hagerup and PA CB Cullen Christian will play in the US Army All-American Bowl, and CA S Sean Parker who is down to Michigan, Cal, and USC, will also participate.

Early Enrollment

The semester started today, so we should finally have a good idea of which 2010 Michigan commits were able to get in for the winter semester and spring practice.

MI QB Devin Gardner is still trying to enroll early, but Inkster's semester ends really late and there are some issues with getting him accelerated. Michigan should know by the end of the week whether he will or not. Stephen Hopkins, Jerald Robinson, Ricardo Miller, Christian Pace, Jeremy Jackson, and Austin White are all enrolling, though as of Wednesday morning Robinson and Miller did not have UMich directory entries. Marvin Robinson is also making an effort to enroll early:

Robinson, who took 3 classes over the summer in an attempt to graduate in December, said the holdup stems with 2 classes he took last semester.

"Most likely things are going to work out where I can go up there tomorrow," Robinson said.

Even if things don't, Robinson said he's firm in his commitment and will sign with Michigan in February.

I don't recall if the Athletic Department announced early-enrolling prospects last year until after Signing Day, but hopefully we'll have the final data by the end of this week.

Meanwhile, FL CB Adrian Witty was also supposed to be a midseason enroller after not qualifying for fall but is not in the Michigan directory. It's looking grimmer for Witty by the day; from the sounds of it he is qualified in the eyes of the NCAA; Michigan's admissions are the holdup. The most likely issue is a radically improved test score that got flagged.

Persistent rumors that TX RB/WR Tony Drake is so far from qualifying that he shouldn't even be considered part of the class any more get stronger by the day.

2011

Maxpreps published its Junior All-American teams, with few prospect of interest for Michigan fans, outside of a couple pipe dreams. SoFlaFootball has also published its first 2011 top 75.

FL RB Demetrius Hart may not be the Michigan lock that we thought:

The 5-foot-8, 175-pounder has had the Wolverines out in front for some time and continues to do so, though he jokingly said that cold temperatures in the Orlando area recently may have him thinking a little.

So, yeah: That's not as negative as the headline "Florida Prospect Considers Local Programs" would make it seem. It would still be an upset for him to not land in Ann Arbor.

Michigan has offered a trio of prospects from Gardena Serra High School in California. WR George Farmer appears to be the headliner, holding offers from a who's-who of bigtime schools, including Florida and Oklahoma. DE Jason Gibson and S Marquise Lee have also received Michigan offers, along with scholarships from the likes of Miami (Yes That Miami), Oregon, and Washington.

Etc.

Michigan commits Tony Drake and Austin White come in at #8 and #10, respectively on Sports Illustrated's top running backs of 2010.

If you can help out finding articles on any of the commits, e-mail me, and I'll try to include your contribution. This week, I didn't make it to any games, but I might be able to make it to one game for next week. If you want up-to-the-minute updates of the games I attend, follow me on Twitter @varsityblue.

MI QB Devin Gardner

Last week: Opponent-focused pregame fluff. Inkster defeats Bay City Central 27-20.

The University of Michigan-bound signal caller was impressive, throwing for 132 yards on 7-of-13 passing and running for 95 yards on 15 carries.

But - except for one dazzling fourth-quarter dash that electrified the stadium - the Wolves defense kept Gardner from putting on a one-man highlight show.

This week: Inkster (3-2) @ Muskegon Catholic Central.

SC QB Conelius Jones

Last week: Spartanburg loses to Gaffney, 7-14. Jones was 18-30 passing for 184 yards and one interception. He ran 21 times for 60 yards and the Vikings' only touchdown.

This week: Spartanburg (2-4) @ Byrnes.

MI RB Austin White

Last week: Stevenson defeats Novi 14-7. White did fumble the ball once. Article 2.

The Spartans had 222 yards rushing led by White’s 133 on 28 carries.

White also had 3 catches for 34 yards in the game.

Article 3:

“As long as we keep winning I don’t care how many times I carry the ball,” White said. “The team is working hard. To be around these guys is a great feeling. We’ve come such a long way since the beginning of the season. It’s exciting right now. We didn’t change a lot in the second half. People just started making plays. We’ve been focusing on making plays. I think we’re going to be the kind of team to pound it down their throats. That’s the kind of team we’re developing into.”

This week: Stevenson (4-2) @ South Lyon East.

TX RB Tony Drake

Last week: Skyline rocks Molina 65-0. Drake had only 1 carry, but it went for 54 yards and a touchdown.

This week: Skyline (4-0) @ Richardson.

LA Slot WR Drew Dileo

Last week: Parkview Baptist loses to Dutchtown, 15-24.

Godberry’s touchdown was set up by a 32-yard punt return by Drew Dileo...

The Eagles, ranked No .3 in 3A, were led by Brandon Johnson who had 53 yards on 11 carries and Drew Dileo who had 24 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Dileo added 32 yards receiving on three catches.

The Dileo Statistical Notebook is almost getting robust enough for a...

Chart?

Chart. Look for one next week.

This week: Parkview Baptist (4-1) v. Northeast.

MI WR Ricardo Miller

Last week: Pioneer blasts Monroe 41-6. Ricardo had 3 touchdown catches.

This week: Pioneer (5-1) v. Huron. Apparently this game is some sort of big deal.

OH WR Jerald Robinson

Last week: Canton South loses to Northwest 8-28.

Jerald Robinson had six catches for 60 yards and a touchdown.

This week: Canton South (1-5) v. West Branch.

MI WR Jeremy Jackson

Last week: Huron defeats Saline 32-20.

Gleichert directed the credit to his blockers, saying "our offensive line just played the best games of their lives. I'm going to give all credit to the O-line. They played an amazing game."

Senior wide receiver Jeremy Jackson, who caught eight passes for 132 yards and a touchdown, agreed.

"When the line blocks, everything goes well for us. They're firing off the ball real hard and on each and every play they're coming off with a purpose," he said.

"That makes the run and pass really easy."

Jackson photo by Lon Hordowell of AnnArbor.com.

This week: Huron (2-3) @ Pioneer. Apparently this game is some sort of big deal.

OH WR DJ Williamson

Last week: Harding defeats Bishop Tonnos 48-7.

This week: Harding (4-1-1) v. St. Ignatius.

OH OL Christian Pace

Last week: Avon Lake defeats Midpark 35-7.

This week: Avon Lake (3-3) v. Berea.

OH DT Terry Talbott

Last week: Star QB Braxton Miller was out with the flu. Wayne falls to Northmont 14-27.

This week: Wayne (3-3) @ Fairmont.

PA DE Ken Wilkins

Last week: Trinity falls to Chartiers Valley 12-30.

This week: Trinity (1-4) v. Belle Vernon

PA DE Jordan Paskorz

Last week: Hampton defeats Indiana 35-20.

This week: Hampton (3-2) @ Knoch.

OH LB Antonio Kinard

Last week: Liberty defeats Champion 21-7.

This week: Liberty (4-2) v. Lakeview.

OH CB Courtney Avery

Last week: Lexington wins 47-7. Avery missed the game with his ongoing ankle injury.

This week: Lexington (3-2) @ Salado.

OH CB Terrence Talbott

Last week: Star QB Braxton Miller was out with the flu. Wayne falls to Northmont 14-27.

This week: Wayne (3-3) @ Fairmont.

WI P Will Hagerup

Last week: Whitefish Bay defeats Grafton 32-0.

This week: Whitefish Bay (5-1) @ Homestead.

2011 OH CB Greg Brown

Last week: Pregame fluff. Ross loses to Findlay, 40-43 in 3 overtimes.

But the Little Giants big blow came when Foos threw a 66-yard TD strike to Greg Brown (8 catches, 121 yards) during a 74-second, second-period scoring frenzy as 3:37 remained in the first half.

This week: Ross (4-2) @ Marion Harding.

TX RB Stephen Hopkins

Last week: Marcus had a bye week.

This week: Marcus (3-1) v. Lewisville.

FL S Marvin Robinson

Last week: Lake Region had a bye week.

This week: Lake Region (0-4) v. Ridge Community.

All recruiting updates can be found on the Recruiting Board.

Happy Trails?

Michigan had long been considered at or near the top of FL OL Torrian Wilson's list, but Wilson has committed to Stanford. I wouldn't be surprised if he still took some visits, so he'll stay on the recruiting board for a little while longer.

Likely-similar results from the decision of FL RB Eduardo Clements. He's made up his mind, but for some reason (probably to annoy me) won't announce it until Signing Day. Michigan was his favorite as recently as a month ago, but I would guess he's picked somebody else.

The Distant Future. The Year 2011.

September 1st is the first day juniors can receive offers. A number of 2011 guys have gotten them thus far, and as I've noted, one of them has already committed to Michigan. Check out the commitment post on Greg Brown here.

Moving along to other juniors who have received offers, there a number that can be confirmed via free sources. The positions on some of these guys may not be definite quite yet, because jesus they're 16 years old.

FL RB Demetrius Hart was being kept in the dark on his offers, so he can focus on his football season. I can virtually gurantee you he got a Michigan offer, and he's considered a heavy Michigan lean. Hart is a top prospect, and is visiting this weekend (see below). I'm sure the coaches would be ecstatic if he made a commitment. Central Florida Varsity Prospects has video on Hart.

When I talked to MI WR DeAnthony Arnett in August, he had 3 unofficial offers. Offer Day came and went, and now he has 3 official offers ($, info in header). I'm willing to bet they're the same three - Michigan, MSU, and Eastern Michigan.

FL OL Tyler Moore received his Michigan offer. His dad played for Nebraska, so he's considered a virtual lock to join the Huskers down the road. Despite the M offer, they're not in his early top 4, and he plans to decide this fall.

AZ OL Christian Westerman has an official offer from the Wolverines. His dad also cryptically mentions that Christian likes snow. Might that be a hint that Michigan is near the top of his list? Maybe I'm reading into things a little too much.

MI OL Anthony Zettel has not yet received a MIchigan offer, but should he get one, he would probably end up wearing the maize and blue. He attended the Western Michigan game, and I believe is expected to be in town again this weekend.

FL DE/LB James Wilder should be one of the top prospects in Florida. He received a Michigan offer on September 1st, along with offers from the likes of Florida, West Virginia, and Miami (Yes That Miami). Rivals video:

(HT UMGoBlog)

OH DE Chris Rock also received his Michigan offer in the mail already. He admits only knowing about Ohio State, since he's grown up in Columbus. However, he is a former high school teammate of Wolverine Patrick Omameh (well, same high school - Omameh was a senior in Rock's freshman year).

OH LB Trey DePriest has a verbal offer from Michigan, and I'm sure he's gotten the written edition in the mail since that article was published nearly a week ago. He's a top prospect in Ohio, and grew up liking the Wolverines. He plans to take his time in making a commitment. GBMW scouted DePriest last week.

No word on an offer, but OH S Ron Tanner visited Michigan last week ($, info in header), and apparently really liked what he saw.

See below for a little more detail, but OH CB Doran Grant has received an official offer ($, info in header).

A 2011 recruiting board will be debuting sometime soon.

Visitin'

The Free Press has an article on visitors to last week's Western Michigan game (link is no-followed). Other than Dior Mathis, there were mostly current commits and junior prospects in attendance. Photo at right (courtesy of Josh Helmholdt in the Free Press) is 2011 OH CB Doran Grant. MGoBlog's own TomVH caught up with some of Michigan's commitments, and they gave him their reactions to the season-opening win.

VA LB Aramide Olaniyan has been a longtime Duke commitment, but he's been soft in that commitment basically the whole time. He still plans to take an official visit to Ann Arbor, as well (also of note from that article, FL CB Tony Grimes is down to M, Wisconsin, and Ole Miss). Two visits this fall/winter, one on his own dime? Sounds like the kid really likes Michigan, and might be a serious possibility for OMG SNAKE OILZ~!~!~! It's not like Duke is living up to their promise of being a team on the rise. Olaniyan comes in for some fluff from his high school coach as well:

“I've got two Division I line prospects and a center who's nastier than they are and he's just killing them. At one point, he just blew by two blockers and crushed the quarterback. He's the fastest kid you're ever going to block – literally.”

He plays DE for his high school, but is more of an LB at the next level.

MD RB Josh Furman will be in the house ($, info in header) when Michigan squares off against the Irish.

While we're talking visitors, I may as well mention that this weekend is huge for the hoops team as well. Dylan covers the particulars over at UMHoops.

Etc.

Maxpreps fluff on a number of Michigan targets. He may get more pub in Recruitin' posts than anyone outside of Devin Gardner and Seantrel Henderson, but how about some more on PA CB Cullen Christian? Game report from his team's season-opening loss, including video highlights of a pretty nice one-handed pick by Cullen. He'll visit UCLA soon. This is more FNL-y, but The Wolverine Blog has video from Jeremy Jackson's game last weekend.

Huge week for the Friday Night Lights feature, as nearly every Michigan commit kicked off the season this weekend, and Mgoblog was live and in person for four of the games (covering 6 of the commits). Players with MGoOriginal content will be at the top, and guys who haven't hit the field yet are towards the bottom. Without further ado, Friday Night Lights:

MI QB Devin Gardner

Last Week: Game Preview. Ann Arbor.com fluff. Inkster loses to Ann Arbor Pioneer 32-35. Article #2. Devin threw 10/14 for 97 yards and a touchdown, while running 16 times for 113 yards and a touchdown. See the MGoBlog review of Gardner, including a photo gallery and HD video.
This week: Inkster (0-1) @ East Kentwood on Thursday. MGoBlog might be in atendance. Hell, let's take a vote. Would you rather have more Devin video or some Austin White video from this coming Thursday?

MI WR Ricardo Miller

Last Week: Game Preview. Ann Arbor Pioneer defeats Inkster 35-32. Article #2. Ricardo caught 3 passes for 70 yards. Photo gallery and scouting report never really got published, because there was actually too much(!) content for MGoBlog to handle this weekend, so you'll have to suffer through the MgoHighlights:

This Week: Dexter @ Ann Arbor Pioneer (1-0). MGoBlog will either be at this game, or the Huron/Tecumseh game. Leave your preference in the comments.

OH WR Jerald Robinson

Last Week: Canton South fell to Dover 14-27. Jerald caught 2 passes for 6 yards, returned one kickoff for 15 yards, and made 1 solo tackle and 6 assisted tackles. See the MGoBlog report from the game, including video.
This Week: Canton South (0-1) @ Canfield.

MI WR/TE Jeremy Jackson

Last Week: Ann Arbor Huron fell to Chelsea 35-29. Jeremy had 6 receptions for 86 yards, including a 48-yarder. He also added 3 tackles and 6 assisted tackles from his free safety spot (where he actually looked pretty good, at least at the high school level). Original MGoHighlights:

This Week: Tecumseh @ Ann Arbor Huron (0-1). MGoBlog will either be at this game, or the Pioneer/Dexter game. Leave your preference in the comments.

OH DT Terry Talbott

Last Week: Wayne defeats Cincinnati Princeton 21-4. MGoBlog was there, and you can see the photos here:

We're still having a slight delay on the HD video, but it will be posted when available. Terry finished with 8.5 tackles, 4.5 for loss (18 yards). He also had 1.5 sacks (11 yards) and 2 QB hurries.
This Week: Huber Heights Wayne (1-0) @ Canton McKinley on Saturday.

OH CB Terrence Talbott

Last Week: Wayne defeats Cincinnati Princeton 21-4. MGoBlog was there, and you can see the photo gallery above.
This Week: Huber Heights Wayne @ Canton McKinley.

SC QB Cornelius Jones

Last Week: Spartanburg defeats Union 35-0.

"Jones ran for touchdowns of 3, 1 and 3 yards and completed 6 of 7 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown."

“He’s a very athletic quarterback and you have to give Spartanburg credit, they just took it to us,” Union County coach David Lipsey said.

As with last week, Clarence Beeks gives us the dish.

This Week: Spartanburg (1-1) @ Northwestern.
Season Totals:

MI RB Austin White

Last Week: Stevenson falls to crosstown rival Franklin 7-21. Austin has 14 carries for 64 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown for the Spartans' only points. Rivals has video of White's performance. Be forewarned, though - it caused my browser to lock up once.
This Week: Howell @ Livonia Stevenson (0-1) on Thursday. Leave comments on whether you'd rather have MGoBlog at this game, or Devin's game in Grand Rapids on Thursday.

TX RB Stephen Hopkins

Last Week: Marcus pounded Grapevine 62-28. Boxscore. Hopkins had 13 carries for 78 yards and touchdowns of 4 and 6 yards.
This Week: Plano West @ Marcus (1-0).

OH WR/S DJ Williamson

Last Week: Harding tied Shaw 24-24. Second article. No mention of Williamson in either paper.
This Week: Chaney @ Warren G. Harding (0-0-1).

OH OL Christian Pace

Last Week: Season preview fluff. Avon Lake upset 28-16.
This Week: Avon Lake (0-1) @ Brunswick

OH LB Antonio Kinard

Last Week: Liberty defeats East 17-6.
This Week: Niles @ Liberty (1-0).

OH CB Courtney Avery

Last Week: Lexington led 7-3 when the game was suspended due to weather:

When the game was suspended, Avery was 6 of 7 passing for 91 yards with one TD and one interception.

Once the game resumed, he picked up where he left off, leading to a 42-17 victory.:

The Minutemen had big plays throughout the game as Avery connected on 18 of 28 passes for 278 yards and three TDs, including scoring connections to Kenya Coombs (53 yards), Brian Byrne (28 yards) and Kevin Smith (3 yards).

The touchdown was a 53-yarder.
This Week: Mart @ Lexington (1-0).

TX RB Tony Drake

Last Week: Skyline's season doesn't open up until this Friday.
This Week: Kimball @ Skyline.

LA Slot WR Drew Dileo

Last Week: Dileo's season doesn't start until the 11th.
This Week: Dileo's season doesn't start until the 11th.

PA DE Ken Wilkins

Last Week: Season preview fluff. Individual preseason fluff:

"He's an unbelievable physical talent," Trinity coach Ed Dalton said. "He's very muscular, and he has a 28-inch waist. He looks like an NFL player today. He's not going to take a year in college to get that physical look. He already has it. He's blessed physically."

...

"[Committing early to Michigan] was a relief off my shoulders," Wilkins said. "I found out where I wanted to go, and there was no point in letting the pressure build up. It was a good position to be in to be wanted by all those schools, but I wanted to do what was best for me."

Trinity's regular season has not started yet.
This Week: Canon-McMillian @ Trinity.

PA DE Jordan Paskorz

Last Week: Season preview fluff. Individual preseason fluff:

A hybrid defensive end/linebacker, Paskorz has carved a reputation as one of the WPIAL's elite players. Various blog writers question how elite...

"Everyone is entitled to their own wrong opinions," DeMatteo said. "Honestly, I can only base mine from working with the kid, but it's hard to find a player of his caliber. He worked hard, he devoted time early in the morning and he didn't miss workouts [ed - too soon?]. Jordan has been a quiet leader, and at least to me, he's exemplified what a Division I player should be."

What isn't questioned is Paskorz's athleticism. His muscular frame -- and the potential to add more bulk -- is evident. He runs a 40-yard dash in about 4.7 seconds and can dunk a basketball from a standing position. Paskorz, who also plays tight end, had nine sacks for a Talbots squad that struggled to a 1-8 finish in 2008.

This Week: Hampton @ Blackhawk

FL S Marvin Robinson

Last Week: Season preview fluff:

Anchoring that secondary will be senior safety Marvin Robinson, who Reynolds called "one of the best players in the school's history."

The article goes on to mention that he is being recruited by schools like Ohio State and Michigan. OK, but which one has he committed to, moron?

This Week: Lake Region @ Winter Haven.